Wulandari Robyanti: 2018

Traveling to Kashmir, a Piece of Heaven in The Conflict Area

By Wulandari Robyanti - October 13, 2018

I never noticed about Kashmir, until I decided to buy the cheap return tickets due to a mobile app's promotion to a country named "India". I was looking for some places to visit and I found a state named "Jammu and Kashmir". And here I was, going there with two of my friends, all girls, and this is the story about our trip.

The pines, the river, the hills, oh, hello Kashmir!

Welcome to Kashmir! Some of you might already know that Kashmir is a conflict area, they are fighting for their freedom for decades. The first time you step your feet here, you will notice there is a lot of soldiers, every 10-50 meters. My friend in Kashmir said that they are “security”, but with guns. Even in the road, I found a vandalism said “Free my Kashmir!” with a drawing of a gun sign. Also, a truck that we passed by in the street, they wrote some words behind it: “Stop the innocent killing in my Kashmir!”.

Do you dare to go to Kashmir?? The answer is definitely “Yes! Why not??”

Here is the thing, there might be a conflict area for decades, but it is safe for tourist. There might be a lot of soldiers that scares you, but the Kashmiri people was so nice to us. There might have one or two stories of chaotic conflict that you ever heard, but the view that Kashmir has to offer is worth a visit.

Whenever I said to people in India that I want to go to Kashmir, they said “oh, that’s heaven!”. And they were right, Kashmir was so beautiful, calming, and relaxing. Even I promise myself to go back when it comes to winter. It will be more magical, the mountains will be covered with snow and the river will be frozen.

The layered hills locted in Nara Nag

How to Get There

You can take a flight directly from New Delhi, costed around 700-800k, or may be less than that if you don't hunt the tickets in the near time like me and my friends did. Search the available flights on skyscanner first. I recommend you to go by IndiGo airlines, nice service with a good price. I went by plane because I didn't have much time. Should you have more time in India, I recommend you to take a train because you won't miss the view along the journey with a train! But, booking a train ticket for us the foreign tourist is quiet tricky, I hope you are lucky enough!

What to Do

Actually, my to-go-list was about Gulmarg, Pahalgam, and Sonmarg. But, none of that three was visited by me. How funny, when you really wanted to go to some places, you took flight so far from Indonesia to India, had a local flight from Delhi to Srinagar, but things did not happen like you want! Hahaha, it was not a sad one tho, we substituted our destinations with others that not less beautiful.

We could not go to Gulmarg, Pahalgam, and Sonmarg due to a holy ceremony that was held when we were there. Therefore, most people didn’t recommend us to go. Actually, it was okay to go to Gulmarg. But.. Gulmarg was so expensive, yet we don’t get what we want. Our goal to go to Gulmarg was to have a snow experience there. Unfortunately, it was raining season, the snow has not appeared even on the peak of Gulmarg. We thought, someday we want to go back to Kashmir, so why don’t visit Gulmarg at the right time? As its alternative, we went to Nara Nag and Droo Padi, also had a local sightseeing tour in Srinagar.

At Pari Mahal, a garden located near from the city

Kashmiri Traditional Clothes

Srinagar Local Sightseeing

In Srinagar City, there were a lot of gardens, from small gardens till the big ones. We visited some of them, but unfortunately, we could not go to tulip garden because it was not blooming for this time. The photo above was taken at Pari Mahal, a garden in Srinagar, and I wore Kashmiri traditional clothes there.

After that, we went to a garden which I forgot what was the name of it, it had a flowing spring water there. We could wash our face with it or directly drink it, and it was so cold and fresh!

One of photos with the locals, taken at that garden.
Kashmiri people were just getting excited when meeting a foreign tourist. Unfortunately, the original file was lost, so I took from my Instagram story. Get to know more about my Kashmir trip on my IGS @wulandarirobyanti

About the photo above, me and my friends were taking photos in the garden and immediately one and two kids gathered around us, and the numbers of people were going on and on, seems like all of them went to us and just smile and laugh with their language. We couldn’t communicate with each other because they didn’t speak English at all. Hence, all we could say was “Hi, assalamualaikum, nice to meet you!” with a happy smile and hope that they will understand hahaha.

A mosque we stopped by

After strolling around Srinagar, we stopped at a mosque because one of our friends wanted to do jumat prayer. FYI, woman in Kashmir also doing salat in masjid at that time, on Friday. I am not sure it is the same salat with the man do or not. They don't use mukennah, they just use their clothes because it is already the long ones and all of them wearing hijab. When I use mukennah in the houseboat, the houseboat staff was amazed by it, they said "Nice Dress!" lol xD. Since most of all Kashmiri people were Muslim (I mean, the point is: they can eat meat!! xD), I was so happy because of yeaah no vegan food with curry cuisine anymore! Hooraaay!

You also can visit Dal Lake when sunset or sunrise comes. It is like a big lake in the center of Srinagar city. We chose to stay at a houseboat so we can enjoy the Dal Lake view directly from the boat where we stayed. This is one of a photo captured from my houseboat. My morning view, my evening view, even if we were coming in winter, the mountains around Dal Lake would be covered by snow!

View from the houseboat where we stayed

Camping at Nara Nag

The next day, we went to Nara Nag. It was quite far from the city. We passed the winding rock with pines in both roadsides. We did a road trip with two friends from Kashmir, named Javed and Shafi. This is a view that welcomed us at the first we stepped the campsite. You can see, there was the layered hills, a bunch of pines, and fresh air with a sound of a flowing river below us.

This is where we built our tents and we camped here

We built the tents, cooked, chilling, and taking some photos; definitely!

After that, we did tracking in Nara Nag, we visited a temple and explored Nara Nag a little further. With a good weather, we took a walk till it was 6 pm or 7 pm and went back to the camp. In there, the sun went down at 8 or 9 pm. It was a perfect night with good friends, good food, good music, good weather, good vibes, and also good view at the sky where the stars were so much and the moon shined brightly without any fog.

One of view we crossed through when we did tracking in Nara Nag

In the morning, you will find the horse, cow, sheep, that feed their self in our campsite. The sun rose from behind the layered hills. What to do was just chilling and enjoying the view with a cup of chai.

Waking up with a view!

Switzerland View!
Going back from Nara Nag, we were heading to Doodhpathri. It was like a Switzerland kind of view! Lol, but seriously I never thought that this kind of place was able to see in India. Like, bud, what I thought about India was just the Taj Mahal and another pretty building and monuments, I got it wrong. India for me was a pretty big country with a complete tourist attraction that India had to offer. Amazing!

Doodhpathri for me was like a common Bollywood scene back then when we were kids! Don't you feel the same? Anyway, so many horses to be ridden by us there, with a little payment of course. I just paid around 50-150 rupees or maybe less than that, because we did bargaining so hard hahaha! This view was one of my goals to seek in Kashmir. It looks like Pahalgam or Sonmarg, but nearer from our previous destination. Go to Kashmir when winter, and you will find this place more beautiful!

About the Cost

I can declare that living cost in Kashmir was quite cheap! I went there for 5 days and only expended around IDR 850k, including local transportations, meals, and houseboat. About the cost of meals, it was the same price with how you spend your money to have a lunch in your cafeteria at your campus, no worries. The transportation itself, I rent my friend's car, Javed's car, he drove us everywhere. It was not expensive tho, we only spent INR 300 for each person to be driven all day long when we were taking Srinagar local sightseeing tour. To go to Nara Nag, we spent around INR 2000-2300, including all of you need to camp: transportation with his car, meals, tent, and they were so kind to us!
About the houseboat, you can stay at Shamus Maqbool Houseboat, go to booking.com to make a reservation. It is owned and managed by my friends that I mentioned above, Javed and Shafi. I was amazed by the place where we stayed. Very good price with a good quality. Located at Dal Lake, you will get the best morning experience, a cold morning, foggy, and calming. In the evening, the sun will be warmly shining, such a perfect time to close the day with a glass of Kashmiri Kahwa and some biscuits.

I don't have any photo of the houseboat. But I recorded the video about it on my Instagram story. If you are interested to know about the details of this houseboat, kindly jump to my Instagram story highlight named "Kashmir". For the houseboat I mentioned above, I spent just about IDR 100k for 4 nights! A veeeeery good price! We rent a room for 4 nights, 3 persons, just about INR 1920. You guys can take a note to this houseboat if you are planning to go to Kashmir.

Anyway, this long blog post is written in a coffee shop in Senayan, Central Jakarta, a city where I live my life for now. And this time, inside this mini coffee shop, all I am thinking about while sitting on my desk is my heartwarming experience in Kashmir: the shikara ride we took, the foggy morning we met, the sunset at 8pm, the cinnamon in our Kashmiri Kahwa, and the people who greeted us nicely with "Assalamualaikum" ☺.

Feeling grateful for this experience. Thank you and see you again, Kashmir!
PS: Most of the photos uploaded above taken from my Instagram account, several photos that still safely archived because it was uploaded on Instagram. I have a bunch of photos there, but I lose my phone, so yeah bye bye for some photos. The photo might lose, but the memory stays forever!

Thank you for reading, ya!

Every good wish,

@wulandarirobyanti

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Abroad

Hal Buruk (dan Baik) Tentang India

By Wulandari Robyanti - August 21, 2018

Sebelum gue ke India, gue udah sering denger tentang betapa traveling ke negara ini bisa menjadi suatu pengalaman yang "unpleasant". Tapi, hal-hal buruk tersebut bisa tersingkir sejenak setelah gue lihat berbagai kiriman di instagram yang memuat betapa cantiknya India. Sejak itu, gue mengubah pikiran gue tentang India bukan sebagai tempat yang "unpleasant", melainkan "challenging"!

Beberapa hari lalu, gue baca salah satu travel blog yang nyeritain betapa buruknya India. Sebenarnya, gue udah niat baca kiriman blog tersebut sebelum gue pergi ke India. Bahkan sudah gue retweet supaya ingat untuk dibaca. Namun, gue pikir, nanti gue malah mikirin yang buruk-buruk mulu soal India. Belum lagi, temen-temen gue yang cowok enggak jadi ikut ke India. Kondisinya saat itu, gue dan temen-temen cewek gue semacam parno sendiri sih soal keamanan kita di India. Karena, enggak cuma satu orang yang bilang langsung secara personal ke kita tentang pengalamannya ke India yang terbilang enggak "ramah" untuk turis perempuan.

Bangunan secantik ini ada di India. Gak cuma Taj Mahal, banyak bangunan-bangunan cantik lainnya! Tapi nyatanya, di luar bangunan megah dan terawat, berbagai daerah di India enggak serapih dan sebersih itu. Nikmatin aja! :)

Malam ini, gue sempetin untuk googling "Hal buruk di India". Banyak banget yang nyeritain hal-hal yang kurang lebih sama, tentang India yang kumuh atau jorok, banyak penipuan, dan cowok-cowok India yang genit-genit sampe ke touching physicly. Jujur, pas baca opini-opini soal India, gue langsung setuju banget! Hahaha pokoknya, in general, gak ada satu hal pun yang enggak bener, cuman ya tetep ada aja kok hal-hal baik yang gue temui di India. Berikut di antaranya!

1. Kebersihan di India

Sama kayak beberapa tempat di kota-kota di Indonesia, India juga sama kumuhnya. Bukan cuma sampah yang numpuk, tapi juga kotoran hewan yang bisa dijumpai di mana saja, toilet umum yang enggak ada pintu, bau pesing di gang-gang, dan penjual makanan jalanan yang enggak merhatiin kebersihan. Pernah gue beli jajanan india, gue masih kebayang jelas lengan abangnya kayak shimer gitu karena keringat. Keringatnya sampe berkilau-kilau gitu lho nempel di badannya.. Dan itu tangan yang sama yang motong-motongin makanan gue..

Kalau makan di restoran sih kayaknya bersih-bersih aja, walaupun kita enggak lihat langsung sih dapurnya. Ada satu cafe di depan Hawa Mahal, namanya Wind View Cafe, itu bersih soalnya dapurnya juga open. Nah, untuk ke sana kan gue lewatin tangga-tangga. Di tangga itu ada pembuat chai, semacam teh khas India, di mana mereka ngerebus dan menuangkan chai tersebut ke gelas. Gue enggak bisa lupa sih sama lalat-lalat besar yang menghinggapi serta bau yang bikin gue langsung tambah mual ;(( soalnya nih, gue lagi lemes banget dan kena maag, bawaanya emang mual dan pengen muntah..

Orang India diakui emang kurang menaruh perhatian pada masalah kebersihan. Mereka bisa buang air kecil di mana aja, walaupun jalanan saat itu lagi rame-ramenya. Btw, toilet umum banyak dijumpai di pinggir jalan lho, tapi engga ada pintunya wkaka jadi orang yang lewat bisa lihat lo lagi berdiri untuk buang air kecil!

2. Ujung-ujungnya Duit!

Kalau ditawari bantuan sama orang India, dan lo mengiyakan, siap-siap aja dimintain duit atau tips ya.. Ini lebih beraku kalau kamu lagi di pasar, tempat wisata, atau tempat keramaian lainnya. Misal, ada yang nawarin untuk bawain barang kamu, atau ada yang nawarin buat ngefotoin kamu dan teman-teman. Better to say no kalau engga mau ada drama di saat bayar-bayaran, karena mereka bakal minta lebih terus walaupun kamu rasa yang kamu kasih itu udah cukup. Mereka juga gak bakal segan-segan buat minta tips. Seterang-terangan itu dengan bilang "tips for me?" dan enggak bakal pergi kalau enggak dikasih tips. Mungkin agak beda dengan pelaku jasa pariwisata di negara kita yang memang biasanya inisiatif dari tamu sendiri yang mau kasih tips atau engga.

Ada satu kejadian lucu sih tentang perduitan ini. Jadi, accidentally, gue ketemu sama adiknya Hussein di Agra. Gak sengaja banget. Hussein sendiri merupakan hostel staff pas gue di Jaipur. Doi nawarin kita untuk silaturahmi ke rumahnya. Besoknya, gue bilang kalau kita mau ke rumahnya, doi bales dan bilang okay. Chat berlanjut dan intinya kita hari itu cuma pengen ke rumah doi karena kita udah ngunjungin semua tourist attraction di Agra. Pun untuk ke terminal kita udah ngebook tuk-tuk. Eh, doi ngilang dan bales "I'll call u later", udah gue chat lagi dan enggak dibales. Hahaha gue dan temen-temen menyimpulkan karena kita engga kemana-mana itu berarti kita gak pake jasa dia untuk nganterin kita ke tempat wisata/drop ke terminal, ya no money for him. No money received, no go out.

3. Genitnya cowok India

Gue paling enggak suka sih kalau diajak foto sama orang lokal, lalu orang lokalnya langsung ngerangkul pinggang gue. Atau say goodbye lalu doi mau meluk gue, like tangannya langsung ke pinggang. What I was doing? Gue tolak lah, sedikit kaget (banget) wkwk, dan gue bilang sorry menunjukkan gue enggak suka diperlakukan begitu. Masalahnya mereka lebih ke genit gitu lho, bukan yang friendly. Pokoknya bikin kita feeling uncomfortable. Sejak itu, gue hati-hati sih kalau diajak foto sama orang lokal, since they were just too excited in seeing a foreign tourist. Mereka sering minta foto sama kita. Enggak cuma itu, banyak juga yang cuma ngeliatin kita tapi bener-bener lo bakal ngerasa kayak dipelototin dari atas sampe bawah, dari kepala sampe kaki. Dan mereka melakukan itu seterang-terangan itu.

4. Tipu-tipu di India

Salah satu yang jadi highlight di India itu tentang kriminalitas di sana, paling enggak ya scam atau penipuan. Gue gak banyak ngalamin sih, cuman ada satu yang bikin kesel banget. Waktu di Delhi, gue berencana ke bazaar namanya "Dilli Haat". Gue tanya ke tuk-tuk, berapa ongkos ke sana, harganya lumayan lebih murah daripada pergi naik uber. Oke.. kita naik tuk-tuk. Ternyata, kita dianter ke sebuah toko, bukan bazaar. Nama tokonya juga sama-sama "Dilli Haat" sih, cuman ini jauh banget dari ekspektasi gue. Gue dan temen-temen bingung dong, ini masuk lewat mana, since yang ada tuh pintu masuk toko dan sebelahnya kayak gang/tangga kecil gitu. Supir tuk-tuknya bilang kalau ini tuh Dilli Haat, dulu memang seperti bazaar, namun kebijakan baru dari perdana menteri ngebuat Dilli Haat dirapihkan dan jadinya seperti ini. Pas gue masuk, itu cuman satu toko berlantai dua. Ini aneh banget, akhirnya kita tau kalau si supir tuk-tuk itu ngebohongin kita. Yang bikin kita tambah kesel adalah doi sampe bilang ini adalah kebijakan baru dari perdana mentri. Kesel banget sih, kan kita jadi ngeluarin ongkos lagi untuk ke Dilli Haat yang asli dan juga ngebuang waktu gue dan temen-temen yang hari itu mau ngejer flight sore ke Srinagar.

5. Pengemis anak-anak

Kesel gak sih, kalau kamu terus diikutin sama anak-anak yang minta duit ke kamu, bahkan sampe narik-narik baju? Ya, itu lah yang ada di India. Mereka bakal ngebuntutin kita para turis dan nungguin sampe kita ngasih mereka uang. Kemarin sih kita sangking keselnya jadi ngediemin aja itu anak, literally kayak nganggep mereka engga ada, mau mereka ngomong apa juga dan nungguin kita berapa lama.

6. Klakson, klakson, dan klakson

Jangan heran kalau berpergian di India dan para pengendara di sana membunyikan klakson secara terus-terusan, terlebih kalau kamu naik tuk-tuk. Apalagi, kalau supir tuk-tuk kamu jalannya asal-asalan banget, suka ngebut-ngebutan, dan teriak-teriak sepanjang jalan... yak, itu supir tuk-tuk gue kemaren, namanya Manoj. Ngingetnya lagi aja gue stres hahahah, tapi seru denggg bareng doi. Untung seru, kalau enggak, rasanya pengen minta turun di tengah jalan!:(

7. Kari setiap hari

Pernah liat adegan makan di film India, gak? Mereka makan pake piring dari logam. Kalau kata temen gue, doi nyebutnya "piring seng". Terus, biasanya mereka makan pake kari, atau roti-roti yang tipis gitu. Dan menunya gak jauh-jauh dari rerempahan yang kuat bangettt, ditambah aroma bawangnya. Enak sih, awalnya.. Lama-lama, ya, enek juga :( Bahkan subway dan KFC nya juga rasa kari, men. Ini bukan hal yang totally bad sih, cuman ya ini salah satu hal yang bikin gue kangen banget sama Indonesia. Nothing can replace Indonesian food!

8. Budaya antri

Serendah-rendahnya tingkat pemahaman orang Indonesia tentang budaya antri, India lebih brutal sih menurut gue. Buat yang akan antri di airport atau antri-antri lainnya di India, semangat dan semoga diberi kesabaran!

Tapiiii..

ada juga kok hal-hal yang gue suka dari India. Salah satunya adalah kebijakan untuk mengurangi sampah plastik dari pemerintahnya. India itu negara dengan jumlah penduduk ke-dua terbesar di dunia. Bayangkan kalau satu orang aja ngebuang 5 plastik sekali pakai setiap harinya, ada berapa juta ton sampah yang dihasilkan India. Makanya, kalau belanja di India, terutama di toko-toko, pasti kita gak dikasih plastik, tapi diganti dengan tas belanja seperti goodie bag tipis. Kalau bungkus makanan juga enggak pakai styrofoam. Di tempat wisata, ditulis dengan lugas "No polyethylene allowed". Ini yang bikin gue salut, mereka berhasil nerapin kebijakan pengurangan sampah plastik. Walaupun tetap ada, sih, yang ngasih kantong plastik kalau belanja. Tapi, seenggaknya ini udah salah satu kemajuan yang enggak ada di Indonesia.

Pernah juga waktu di Agra, kita dapet tuk-tuk driver yang baik dan sabar banget, gak pernah ngeluh, dan selalu jadi "one call away"-nya kita, hahaha. Ada juga pedagang yang jujur kalau kita kasih duit lebih karena salah dengar soal harga, padahal temennya udah kasih kode jangan dikembaliin, dan gue sadar pas glagat doi kayak begitu. Saat di Kashmir, gue dan temen-emen dapat harga yang bersahabat banget yang ditawarin langsung sama pemilik houseboatnya, cuma karena dia ngeliat kita sebagai bocah-bocah mahasiswa yang keliatan banget kere dan engga punya duit, jadi dimurahin deh sampe hampir 5x lipat dari harga yang ditawarkan oleh orang lain pada malam sebelumnya. Ada aja deh orang baik. Beberapa kebaikan orang India lainnya juga pernah gue tulis di blog post gue yang ini.

Walaupun banyak banget hal yang terihat tidak "menyenangkan", tapi gue menganggap India ini adalah salah satu perjalanan terseru bagi diri gue sendiri. Kalau ngingetnya, gue malah ketawa-ketawa sendiri. Kocak aja, negara se'buruk' itu, dan gue tetep kesana. Tapi jujur, India itu cantik banget, terlepas dari beberapa hal yang kita anggap buruk. India punya warisan budaya, tradisi, dan sejarah yang keren dan tetap bisa kita nikmati hingga saat ini, India punya Kashmir "Heaven on Earth", ada Ladakh area Himalaya dengan pemandangan yang menakjubkan. Saran gue, ke India jangan sendiri deh. Selain karena faktor keamanan, tapi lebih kayak lo harus punya teman berbagi dalam perjalanan ke India! Bayangin ya, jalan di India, masuk restoran Subway yang gue expect ya rasanya tolerabble, ternyata restorannya ber-"aroma india", bau kari, bau bawang, dan ketemu orang yang (maap banget) bau tidak sedap, kalau gue sendiri mungkin udah bete asliii. Kalau sama temen, justru jadi bahan ketawaan. Pokoknya gak kerasa capeknya!

Satu lagi, pergi ke sini bikin gue ngerasa bersyukur tinggal di Indonesia. Semakin jauh melangkah, semakin ngebuat gue untuk enggak taking things for granted. Well, buat yang mau ke India, welcome to the jungle!

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Abroad

Jaipur, My First Impression with India

By Wulandari Robyanti - August 08, 2018

I arrived in India at Jaipur International airport. Since it was an international airport, I thought it will be a huge and busy one. Turned out, it's not that big compared to CGK in Jakarta or DEL in New Delhi. I was with my friends, we were 5 persons, all girls. Our hostel was located in Banipark, about 20-30 minutes from the airport, we rented a prepaid taxi to reach it. Honestly, a prepaid taxi costed a quite pricey fare, but there was no other option since the internet was at low connection and we hadn't activate our local sim card yet to order Uber.
Here are some points from my experience in Jaipur.

Where to Stay

I stayed at Tuktuk Backpackers for two nights, Kalyan Hotel for one night, and Jaipur by Roadhouse Hostel for two night. I had a great days there! If you stay at Tuktuk Backpackers, you may meet Husein and he will welcome you with the best hospitality he can offer. Here was a story about our stay, so we already booked a dormitory room for 5 persons, but the system didn't do it for us so the room tagged by others. Hence, Husein gave us two new rooms, which actually the rooms were the more expensive ones, but he said we only pay with the same fare with the dormitory because it's not by our fault.

At Kalyan Hotel, you should meet the lady who was the owner of it. We were just going back to the hotel to take our luggage that we put before. And she gave us the herbs and drink because we looked like so tired and also gave me a room for praying before we go to Jaisalmer. Such one of some little acts of kindness that Indian people did to us, it warmed my heart!

At Roadhouse Hostel, it had a friendly ambience. I really recommend it to backpackers who seek for experience of meeting and making new friends, especially if you are going solo. At the last night I stayed, we spent the night with other guest and the hostel staff. They offered a free drink and we were just having a chit chat until 3pm. They made pharata and we ate together.

What to Do

Jaipur has so much tourist destinations and each destination is located closely, they are not too far to be reached. Some famous places, or we can call it with "Jaipur's Must-Visit", are Hawa Mahal, City Palace, Amber Fort, Nahargarh Fort, Jawahar Circle, and Phana Meena Ka Kund or also known by stepwell.

Also, for those who like shopping, Jaipur is a heaven! A lot of choices for bangles, jewellery, gemstone, bag, shoes, with a unique pattern and details by handmade. So that, they don't have much stock for one design. You can go to Johari Bazaar to get the cheap price. A little bit extra, you can also get a heena art on your beautiful hands!

Get our hands in heena by this talented lady, she has been doing heena for the last 30 years

The famous Hawa Mahal, you can go to a cafe in front of it to get this view

Our Inspector Vijay at Amer Fort

Wearing saree at City Palace. Seriously, it's such a pretty one! The detail of architecture is just that awesome!

Paana Meena Ka Kund. This stepwell was beautiful, but unfortunately when we were there we couldn't step the stairs

Jawahar Circle. It was only a gate, but it was soooo pretty into details!

Some Tips While in Jaipur

-You can have a free stay, (and also free food!), by volunteering in a hostel. Go to a website named workaway.com or you can directly email the hostel which you want to be a volunteer there. You will sleep in the same room where the guest sleeps. When you have a free time, you can explore Jaipur by yourself or with a new friend you meet. Yes, I guarantee you will meet new people from variant countries and interact with them, both the guest and the hostel staff. I know about it when I stayed in Roadhouse Hostel. Obviously, It can be one of your choices to decide which hostel you want to volunteer at.

-Always bargains when it comes to shopping, even when you shop directly at the factory. When you go to a factory, the seller may say that it’s a fixed price or they are the distributor for another seller so it is already good price. But, do bargaining. Otherwise, you can just go to the bazaar/market and you will find a very ~~cheap~~ good price! When in a bazaar, bargain to the cheapest price you can, it may be a half price or 1/3 price. I tell you, some sellers are too much to state a price.

-When you go by tuk-tuk, always do bargaining to the fare they give to you. Or, you can go by Uber or Ola (local online taxi) to avoid the bargaining. But, to make your local sightseeing experience more efficient, you can rent a tuk-tuk for a day and the driver will wait for you and drive you everywhere. If you want to buy saree/bangles/etc, remember the tuk-tuk will get the commision from the shop. Hence, just go by yourself to get the cheaper one.

"Call for Manoj", our crazy tuk-tuk driver, lol. Jaipur was that fun with him. "You happy, I am happy, no problem" said Manoj.

Well, in India, Jaipur is the first city I visit and the last city before going back to Indonesia. Thus, Jaipur came as my first impression with the country, also the city where I said hello and goodbye.

14 days in India, I visited Jaipur 3 times. It was like a transit city to continue my journey to Agra, Jaisalmer, and came back to Jakarta. I travelled with a tuk-tuk and crossed the one-way street, dirt road, causeway. Seems like every driver there pressed the horn anytime, it may be the way they communicate on the street. Otherwise, it is too much for us the tourist. Therefore, I know Jaipur much more compared to another city. It was crowded, chaotic, smelly. Nonetheless, don't get it wrong, I left my heart at Jaipur due to the beauty of the pink city and the kind people I met. That's a nutshell of my love and hate relationship with India. Go to India, and find your own love-hate-relationship!

Every good wish,
@wulandarirobyanti

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Indonesia

Wae Rebo, Desa di Ketinggian Nusa Tenggara Timur

By Wulandari Robyanti - August 04, 2018

“Ngapain ke Wae Rebo? Ke sana jauh, capek, terus ya udah Wae Rebo tuh gitu doang. Lagian, kalian cuma berdua, cewek-cewek pula.”

Setidaknya, kalimat-kalimat seperti itulah yang gue dan temen gue dapatkan ketika bilang ke teman-teman sailing trip kalau kami akan melanjutkan perjalanan ke Wae Rebo, sebuah desa di ketinggian Nusa Tenggara Timur. H-1 perjalanan, tengah malem, kami akhirnya memutuskan dengan salah satu pertimbangan berupa “Ya udahlah tanggung, udah nyampe sini. Berangkat aja!”. Dan dengan baiknya, semesta nunjukin banyak jalan dan ngasih banyak tangan untuk membantu.

Ternyata, di perjalanan ke sana, diam-diam gue membenarkan kata orang-orang. Tujuh jam ke sana tuh jauh banget, kok gak nyampe-nyampe ya rasanya? Dipikir jalanan bakal mulus-mulus aja, ternyata jalannya berkelok-kelok dan gak semuanya beraspal, mulai dari daerah pegunungan sampe pinggir pantai. Belum lagi, gue mesti tracking 9km ke atas. Tapi, ketika sampai di atas dan disambut oleh masyarakat Wae Rebo, it was totally paid off!

Wae Rebo di sore hari, it calmed me!

How to Get There

Awalnya, gue berencana naik bus yang lewat jam 6 pagi di depan hotel kami. Bus itu akan nyampe ke Ruteng sekitar jam 9 atau 10 pagi. Dilanjutkan dengan Oto Kayu yang nyampe jam 12 di Dompu, dan dilanjutkan lagi dengan ojek ke Denge, yaitu desa terakhir sebelum Wae Rebo. Dari Denge, dimulai deh tracking 9km ke Wae Rebo. Pulangnya? Masih nggak tau! Hahaha pokoknya nekat aja, modalnya cuma niat dan yakin kalau masih banyak orang baik di perjalanan nanti!

Malam sebelum berangkat, gue dibantu sama Bang Ewin dan Bang Ucok untuk dicarikan teman barengan yang mau ke Wae Rebo, baik sharing sewa mobil maupun sama-sama ngeteng, biar dua bocah ini gak sendiri-sendiri banget lah gitu.. Bang Ewin dan Bang Ucok merupakan dua orang yang bekerja di perusahaan yang kapalnya gue naiki untuk Sailing Komodo. Kebetulan juga, kantornya berada di sebrang hotel kami. Gak kunjung dapat barengan, akhirnya kami pamit mau cari makan dan memutuskan pilihan kami ke warung makan padang. Rupanya, itu adalah cara semesta menunjukkan jalan bagi kami ke Wae Rebo. Di sana, kami bertemu dengan pemilik kedai tersebut, Pak Rully dan istrinya, mereka banyak kasih pendapat mengenai cara-cara alternatif menuju Wae Rebo. Hasil ngobrol sana sini, gue mendapatkan tiga pilihan. Antara tetep ngeteng dengan transportasi umum, sewa motor termasuk drivernya, atau sewa mobil dengan drivernya juga.

About the Cost

Secara itung-itungan cashflow, maka yang paling murah adalah naik kendaraan umum, beda tipis dengan sewa motor. Saat itu, kalau memilih sewa motor dengan drivernya, satu orang akan mengeluarkan biaya 500 ribu nett. Jika pergi dengan sewa mobil serta drivernya, total costnya adalah 1,5 juta nett. Itu artinya, masing-masing kami membayar 750 ribu untuk pulang pergi dan kami akhirnya memilih opsi itu. Wait, harga 1,5juta itu cukup terjangkau lho ya di sana. Rata-rata sewa mobil ke Wae Rebo itu 3 juta nett. Alhamdulillah, kami bisa dapet setengah dari harga pasarnya. Kebayang gak kalau gue pergi ber-4 atau ber-6, bakal jauh jauh lebih murah kan ke Wae Rebo? Dan.. Harga open trip ke Wae Rebo dari Bajo bisa sampe 1,5 juta lho! Pergi sendiri bisa lebih murah! Kalau ada yang mau kontak drivernya, boleh email atau langsung DM di instagram @wulandarirobyanti.

Waktu itu, untuk masuk ke Wae Rebo, ada biaya yang dikenakan sebesar kurang lebih 20 ribu Rupiah. Lalu, kalau kamu menginap, maka kamu akan membayar Rp. 325 ribu termasuk makan 3 kali dan perlengkapan tidur, seperti alas tidur, bantal, dan selimut.

Salah satu view pinggir jalan menuju Wae Rebo. Waktu itu gue berhenti di sini untuk makan bekal yang kami bawa dari Labuan Bajo. Pantai jadi sajian sehari-hari masyarakat di sana.

The Perfect Time

Kalau ke Wae Rebo, sangat disarankan untuk menginap di sana minimal satu malam. Kenapa? Bintang di sana banyak banget kalau malam, plus pagi di sana tuh indah dan bikin tentram banget! Aktivitas dapur akan dimulai dan asap dari masakan akan keluar dari rumah-rumah kerucut hingga menembus kabut. Kalau bisa, tracking ke Wae Rebo dimulai dari pagi atau siang. Karena kalau sore, akan kemalaman dan ga bisa menikmati sore hari di Kampung Wae Rebo. Pulang dari sana juga minimal siang-siang, ya!

Pulang dari Wae Rebo sekitar jam 9 pagi. Sampe di Desa Denge sekitar jam 11. Saat pulang ke Labuan Bajo, kita dapet hamparan sawah yang luas dan jalan lintas yang sepi, ditambah megahnya senja yang menyinari dari balik bukit-bukit di sekitar nusa tenggara

Is it safe? How is the track?

Yes, it is safe! Jangan takut walaupun cuma berdua. Kalau bisa, cari barengan ya! Lebih rame, lebih asik, jadi gak kerasa capeknya. Kalau pergi dengan transportasi umum, pastikan kamu tau pergi dan pulangnya akan naik apa dan perhatikan jam keberangkatannya. Transportasi umum di sana terbilang sulit, cuma ada di jam tertentu dan bahkan cuma satu kali sehari. Jalur tracking ke Wae Rebo sangat jelas, tinggal ikutin jalan. Hati-hati kepeleset karena sampingnya jurang dan jalan tidak terlalu lebar. Kalau ragu, sewa porter lebih aman. Porter tersebut juga akan bantu bawa barang-barang kamu saat naik dan turun dari Wae Rebo. Walaupun porternya ikut menginap, kamu gak akan ngeluarin biaya untuk menanggung biaya penginapan si porter. Tarif jasanya sekitar 100 ribu per porter. Tracking ke Wae Rebo bisa makan waktu 3 jam-4 jam, terbagi ke dalam 3 pos. Oh iya, untuk jalan ke pos 1, kalian bisa naik ojek karena jalanan bisa dilewati motor.

Things You Must Know

Masyarakat Wae Rebo masih sangat menghormati leluhur. Di tengah halaman kampung Wae Rebo, terdapat sebuah altar berbentuk lingkaran yang bernama Compang. Altar tersebut digunakan untuk pemujaan leluhur dan sangat disakralkan. Itulah salah satu cara mereka untuk dapat terus menghargai dan tetap terhubung dengan arwah leluhur mereka. “Neka hemong kuni agu kalo”, jangan lupakan tanah kelahiran, kata sebuah pepatah di Wae Rebo. Jangan lupa untuk jaga tata krama sesuai dengan norma kebiasaan yang beraku di sana, ya!

What Everyone Loves from It

Wae Rebo bukan cuma indah alamnya, unik arsitektur rumahnya, tapi juga orang-orang di sana yang ramah-ramah banget. Pagi hari, mereka akan jemur kopi, lanjut menenun, pergi ke kebun, dan bercengkrama tanpa perlu tau ada hingar bingar di kota. Iri sama kedekatan mereka dengan alam dan kedekatan mereka dengan adat istiadat yang terus terjaga. Sehingga, yang akan kalian temukan di sana hanyalah perasaan damai yang menyenangkan, tentram, dan nggak mau pulang! Masih teringat jelas gimana anak-anak di sana excited banget main sama kami para pendatang. Hal seru lainnya yang gue alami adalah mandi di tengah hutan, di bawah pancuran bambu bareng anak-anak lokal, airnya sejuuuk banget! Fresh banget!

Overall, setelah ke Wae Rebo, gue seneng banget dan makin bersyukur dengan kekayaan yang negeri ini miliki. Di tengah jauh dan lelahnya perjalanan, semuanya kebayar dengan pengalaman yang seru dan belum tentu gue dapatkan di tempat lain. See you next time, Wae Rebo!

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